Voters in Oregon could elect the country's first lesbian governor next year and only the second LGBTQ top statewide official in the three-state West Coast region.
Oregon Speaker of the House Tina Kotek is running for the open gubernatorial seat and is already attracting significant support for her campaign.
The state's LGBTQ advocacy organization Basic Rights Oregon, along with national groups the LGBTQ Victory Fund and LPAC, both of which work to elect LGBTQ candidates across the country, jointly endorsed Kotek September 29 a day ahead of her 55th birthday.
Her first political hurdle in the campaign will come in May when the state holds its primary election for the contests on the ballot next November; state Treasurer Tobias Reed, 46, a